Artificial Light: Its Influence upon CivilizationLuckiesh, Matthew
History
Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization
Luckiesh, Matthew
Electric lighting; Lighting -- History
It has been shown that the visibility of point sources of white light in
clear atmosphere, for distances up to a mile at least, is proportional
to their candle-power and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance. Apparently the luminous intensities of signal-lamps required
in clear weather in order that they may be visible must be 0.43 candles
for one nautical mile, 1.75 candles for two nautical miles, and 11
candles for five nautical miles. From the data available it appears that
a red or a white signal-light will be easily visible at a distance in
nautical miles equal to the square root of its candle-power in that
direction. The range in nautical miles of a green light apparently is
proportional to the cube root of the candle-power. Whether or not these
relations between the range in miles and the luminous intensity in
candles hold for greater distances than those ordinarily encountered has
not been determined, but it is interesting to note that the square root
of the luminous intensity of the Navesink Light at the entrance to New
York Harbor is about 7000. Could this light be seen at a distance of
seven thousand miles through ordinary atmosphere?
The most distinctive colored lights are red, yellow, green, and blue. To
these white (clear) and purple have been added for signaling-purposes.
Yellow is intense, but it may be confused with "white" or clear. Blue
and purple as obtained from the present practicable light-sources are of
low intensity. This leaves red, green, and clear as the most generally
satisfactory signal-lights.
There are numerous other applications, especially indoors. Some of these
have been devised for special needs, but there are many others which are
general, such as for elevators, telephones, various call systems, and
traffic signals. Light has the advantages of being silent and
controllable as to position and direction, and of being a visible signal
at night. Thus, in another field artificial light has responded to the
demands of civilization.
XVI
THE COST OF LIGHT
Artificial light is so superior to natural light in many respects that
mankind has acquired the habit of retiring many hours after darkness has
fallen, a result of which has brought forth the issue known as "daylight
saving." Doubtless, daylight should be used whenever possible, but there
are two sides to the question. In the first place, it costs something to
bring daylight indoors. The architectural construction of windows and
skylights increases the cost of daylight. Light-courts, by sacrificing
valuable floor-area, add to the expense. The maintenance of windows and
sky lights is an appreciable item. Considering these and other factors,
it can be seen that daylight indoors is expensive; and as it is also
undependable, a supplementary system of artificial lighting is generally
necessary. In fact, it is easy to show in some cases that artificial
lighting is cheaper than natural lighting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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